The Gospel Of Peter

Alternate title: The Lost Gospel According To Peter

c. 70-150 C.E.

The only surviving portion of the Gospel of Peter is within a
codex discovered in the grave of a monk at Akhmîm, Egypt in
1884, though it has been argued that Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 2949 may
contain an earlier redaction. The codex contains a fragmentary
passion and resurrection narrative with parallels to all four of
the canonical gospels plus the theme of Christ preaching to the
dead found in the first letter of Peter, and, while maintaining
the essential framework found in the canon, offers significant
differences in the smaller details, possibly representing an
independent oral tradition.

The gospel was used by the church at Rhossus and often quoted
by Christian writers during the latter part of the second
century. Modern scholars initially had assumed that Peter was
dependent upon the canonical gospels, but more recently the
possibility has been examined that the passion narrative is in
fact the earliest of the known accounts. The gospel contains none
of the "special" Matthean or Lukan material that would
be expected if those gospels had priority. In fact, Peter's
source for the passion narrative may have been the same one used
by both Mark and John.

The Gospel of Peter was eventually branded as heretical, if
for no other reason, because it seemed to deny the suffering of
Jesus. The particular passage (4:1) reads, "And they brought
two criminals and crucified the Lord between them. But he himself
remained silent, as if in no pain." However, this agrees
with the expected silence of the "suffering servant" in
Isaiah 53:7, and therefore is not a docetic statement.

In this and many other areas, Peter's gospel relies very
heavily upon references to Jewish messianic prophecy; more so
than even Matthew. The trend in later gospel writings
(particularly John) was to ignore messianic expectations, giving
further support to an early date of composition.